OPINION:
The results are in and a top winner of the 2017 “Fake News Awards” goes to — drumroll, please — The New York Times for a Paul Krugman story that predicted a dire outcome for the economy because of President Donald Trump’s win of the White House.
As we all know, the economy has actually rallied and rocked under Trump.
Others making the list?
Prepare to laugh. These are some red-faced moments for the largely left-leaning press. But for conservatives, tired of the media’s condescension for all-things-tea-party-type? This is both riot and reminder: One doesn’t know whether to laugh or bang fists in anger.
Here, from GOP.com: “ABC News’ Brian Ross Chokes and sends markets in a downward spiral with false report,” a false report that said former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn was poised to testify that Trump had ordered him to contact Russian officials. The markets tumbled on the news, which was ultimately determined to be wrong, and Ross was suspended for four weeks without pay.
More on the list: CNN’s report of Trump and Donald Trump Jr. having access to hacked documents from WikiLeaks; Time’s report that Trump removed a bust of Martin Luther King Jr., from the Oval Office; The Washington Post’s report of the turnout of Trump’s rally in Pensacola — an event that was packed, but reported as sparsely attended; CNN’s edited imagery of Trump’s fish-feed while standing alongside the Japanese prime minister; CNN’s report on Anthony Scaramucci’s supposed meeting with a Russian official, a story that was retracted and led to the resignation of three network employees; and Newsweek’s reporting about Trump’s handshake with Polish first lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda — a report that falsely said she avoided this courtesy.
CNN was further dinged for a story about former FBI Director James B. Comey; The New York Times was named for a front-page story about the Trump administration and climate change.
“And last, but not least,” GOP.com wrote, “’RUSSIA COLLUSION!’ Russia collusion is perhaps the greatest hoax perpetrated on the American people. THERE IS NO COLLUSION!”
Trump did tweet that some news organizations had performed fine work in 2017.
“Despite some very corrupt and dishonest media coverage, there are many great reporters I respect and lots of GOOD NEWS for the American people to be proud of!” he wrote on Twitter.
But reaction to his list was swift — and angry.
The Guardian penned a scathing criticism of Trump’s whole list, accusing the president of simply using “his bully pulpit to highlight errors in the media, even when news organizations have taken steps to correct and apologize for any inaccuracies” and suggesting the whole “Fake News Awards” was a gimmick — “prime fodder for Trump’s base.”
Sen. Jeff Flake, in the lead-up to the release of the fake news list, spoke defiantly against Trump from the Senate floor, calling him out for “shameful, repulsive” attitudes and rhetoric against the press and likening his characterization of the media as a tactic employed by Josef Stalin.
But Trump has a point when it comes to ’dissing the media. Remember the Huffington Post and its persistent editors’ note to all Trump-related stories that slammed him as a misogynist, sexist and racist? Not on the list. But the media, as far back as Trump announced a run for the White House, has been nothing but mocking, condescending, and outright hateful. As a matter of fact, if anything, the “Fake News Awards” list seems a little short on winners.
Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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